Home survivors’ redress faces further delay

DOUBT has been cast over whether the State’s €800million mother and baby home redress scheme will be open for applications by the end of the year, despite Government promises.

Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman yesterday said the legislation to set up the scheme ‘might’ be passed before the end of this year, allowing the application process to open as promised.

But he warned that the progress of the compensation scheme ‘very much depends on the legislative process’.

The Green Party minister made the comments as he confirmed that €7 million was allocated in Budget 2023 for the excavation of the Tuam mother and baby home site next year.

In 2014, the Irish Mail on Sunday broke the story of local historian Catherine Corless’s research, which uncovered that 796 babies had died at the Tuam home.

Mr O’Gorman also confirmed that the €800million needed to fund the mother and baby home redress scheme will be funded through the revised estimates by the Department of Public Expenditure.

The Children’s Minister said that his department was working ‘intensively’ on the legislation and administration needed to put the redress scheme in place.

Announcing the compensation scheme late last year, Mr O’Gorman said survivors of the homes would be able to apply for redress from late 2022.

When asked yesterday if that target would be met, Mr O’Gorman said he was working on the final draft of the legislation, with a memo due to go to Cabinet within weeks.

‘I hope to bring the legislation to Cabinet in October and then bring it rapidly through the Dáil and Seanad,’ he said.

‘I’d be looking to move through both houses as quickly as the legislative process will allow. Then, as soon as it’s passed, we can open it up for applications,’ he said.

Asked if he believed that could be done by the end of the year, Mr O’Gorman said: ‘If we can move it in a swift process through the houses, we may be able to get it passed before the end of the year. But it very much depends on the legislative process.’

The scheme has proved controversial for the Government, sparking anger among survivors and support groups after it was revealed that thousands of people would not qualify for redress.

Under the plan, just 34,000 out of 58,000 survivors are eligible for compensation.